Suspects in hit-and-run case file motion in court

TRENTON — A Rider University student and a Ewing woman, both charged in a 2011 hit-and-run accident which left an Ewing man dead, appeared in court on Monday requesting more time to analyze evidence.

Laura Gallagher, 20, of Flanders, and Marie Jean, 53, of Berwyn Avenue in Ewing, were charged with one count each of death by auto and leaving the scene of an accident, when their vehicles struck 54-year-old Carl Wilkins in 2011.

Wilkins was struck by both Gallagher’s sliver Jeep and Jean’s BMW on Oct. 28, 2011, at approximately 10:40 p.m. as he was crossing Parkside Avenue near Ives Avenue in Ewing. Both vehicles fled the scene.

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Gallagher later turned herself into Ewing Township Police on Nov. 3, 2011, and Jean was arrested on Nov. 4th, after eyewitness accounts and survelance video lead police to the suspect.

Death by auto and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, both second-degree crimes, could bring 5-to-10-years in a state prison if they are convicted.

At Monday’s status conference meeting, the prosecution and defense council requested more time to review the accident report and expert analysis of the incident, before beginning trial proceedings.